Initially, NAO was a first mover in
humanoid robots, especially for the university research community. They
adopted, applied and used NAO to discover the interaction between humans and
robots and, it continues to be adopted for use in even more leading-edge
research. It is my belief that the continued evolution of NAO in the research
community is now being driven not alone by its marvelous engineering and
software functionality but more by the growing discoveries about the nature of
human-robot interaction (HRI). What do you want the robot to do and how should
it react? NAO fits supremely well into research models demanding a full-bodied
construct facilitated by its humanoid (human-like form and degrees of movement
freedom) capacities. I clearly see that NAO is now being driven evermore by its
ability to incorporate, interact and respond using the emerging wave of
integrated artificial intelligence (AI) software schema. I have seen NAO engage
in AI-powered conversational dialogues to help learn a new language, connect to
IBM’s WATSON and even read postings on a whiteboard in a hospital nursing ward
to aid in decision making.
The more exciting
observation is that NAO and its global application developers have enabled NAO
to assert its prominence by delivering practical, real-world use cases. It is a new era for NAO. The previous era was
characterized by the dialogue that earlier surrounded NAO. “OK, I see it. But,
what does it do?”. This new era demonstrates that answers to that question can
be found in innovative NAO behavior applications that are actually being used
today in autism behavior interventions, assisted medical care in pediatric
hospitals, delivering uplifting social engagement in skilled nursing facilities
that help reduce the trauma of isolation, in libraries advancing community
digital literacy, in schools advancing STEM robotics programs, in classrooms engaging
students in new subjects, even explaining art in an art retail showroom. A new era for sure. Now comes NAO as a powerful stand-alone presenter of custom
PowerPoint educational presentations and AI-powered new language instruction.
These are examples of the growing number answers to the question author Steven
Wasic proffered in 2010 (SinglularityHUB Jan 5, 2010): “What will be the
killer APP for NAO?” If I understand the question correctly, that question has now
been answered. Many times, over.
I was originally moved by
the NAO intro video” The Future is NAO”
Great never gets old!
Inspiring never gets tiring! The “Future is NAO” is more prophetic today than
even when it was introduced.
Underlying it all is, of
course, the fact that NAO has proven its position as the true humanoid leader
but even more so in the face of so many recent failures in robot attempts. NAO
endures as an industrial-grade product. NAO’s caretaking development engineers
at SoftBank Robotics working in design, software, and hardware continue to
advance the NAO humanoid platform with ever-increasing and amazing version
enhancements that are now in its sixth evolution.
While it is always
interesting to see a robot deliver hamburgers and another clean windows it is
more rewarding and I find it more meaningful, to see children on the autism
spectrum positively engage and socially progress, to see children in hospitals
feel less pain and anxiety and to see the elderly in an elder-care facilities
exercise, laugh and want to take NAO for a walk! Having a mother write to me
that NAO helped rediscover her son who was fast fading due to autism and to see
a child let himself down out of his wheelchair to the surprise of everyone in order
to have his picture taken with NAO are examples of why I say “NAO more than
ever!”.
Mike
Radice is Chairman of the Technology Advisory for ChartaCloud ROBOTTECA.
Comments: info@chartacloud.com
